If you live in the United States and you are a Dutch national, you can apply for your first Dutch nationality certificate at the Netherlands embassy in Washington or consulate-general in New York, Miami, Chicago and San Francisco.

What documents do you need?

When you apply for a Dutch nationality certificate, you must provide several documents. For every document, you must provide the original and a photocopy. You may need to have the original legalised and translated. The rules vary by country.

If you are sending the documents by post, you must send legalised official copies.

Identity documents

You should provide all identity documents in your name. This includes foreign and expired documents. You do not need to bring expired documents which have already been cancelled (for instance by having a hole punched through them).

Application form

Proof at least one of your parents was a Dutch national at the time of your birth

You must also provide proof that at least one of your parents was a Dutch national at the time of your birth. If you were born before 1985 this must be your father. If you were born after 1985 it can be your mother or father.

To do this, please provide one of the following documents:

If your parent left the Netherlands before 1 October 1994: a deregistration certificate from the Central Population Registers Office (Bureau Vestigingsregister) in The Hague. Their nationality at the time they left the Netherlands must appear on the certificate.

If your parent left the Netherlands on or after 1 October 1994: an extract from the Personal Records Database (Basisregistratie Personen) of the municipality where they were last registered. Their nationality at the time they left the Netherlands must appear on the extract.

Your parent’s Dutch passport, valid at the time of your birth, which proves they held Dutch nationality.

A valid residence permit for the country where they live.

Other documents proving that the parent holds Dutch nationality, such as a naturalisation certificate, a confirmation of nationality acquired through the option procedure, adoption papers or an acknowledgement document.

Proof at least one of your parents was a Dutch national until you were at least 18

You must provide proof that at least 1 of your parents held Dutch nationality until you were at least 18 years old. This can be a Dutch passport and a residence permit for the country where they live. Or another document proving Dutch nationality.

Marriage certificate or certificate of registered partnership

You should provide an official copy of your parents’ marriage certificate or certificate of registered partnership, giving their full names and the date of marriage or registered partnership. The official copy must not have been issued more than 1 year ago. If your parents were not married at the time of your birth, you will need to provide other documents.

Birth certificate

You should bring with you a complete official copy of your birth certificate or an extract from the register of births, giving your place of birth (not only the state, but also the city, town or village where you were born) and both parents’ full names. The document must not have been issued more than 1 year ago. Hospital-issued certificates are not accepted.

Proof of legal residence

You must provide proof of legal residence in the country where you live. This could be:

a valid visa for the country where you live, and the documents that accompany it

a valid residence permit for the country where you live

proof of residence, if you live in the European Union, Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland or Switzerland, such as:

Contrary to what is written above, you can prove that you are legally residing in the US by providing:

Do you have the American nationality? Then you can show that you are legally residing in the United States by providing:

a copy of your American passport (if you were born in the US)
or

a certificate of naturalisation as a US citizen or proof of birth abroad, a so called Consular Report of Birth Abroad, CRBA (if you were not born in the US)

If you do not have valid US immigration documents, you must hold a ‘Certification of Non-existence of a Record of Naturalization’. You can request this document from US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Procedure to apply for consular certificates in the United States

Applying by post

In the US you can apply for a consular certificate/declaration by post. To apply you can send a letter with your name and contact details, the required documents and the payment by post.

Please indicate clearly in your letter the purpose for which you will be using the certificate. We will put it in the declaration. It takes approximately 3 working days to process your application.

If you would like the certificate returned to you by post, please include a return envelope with the correct postage. If you send original documents, these will only be returned to you if you provide copies.

You can also have your certificate sent to you by UPS, FedEX or DHL. You will have to pay the postage charge yourself, and you will need to provide a pre-paid, electronically generated shipping label with your application. For more details on acceptable types of labels, please read the mailing instructions (PDF, 16 KB).

Applying in person

In case you wish to submit your application at the consulate-general in Chicago, you will need to send an email to make appointment.

If possible the certificate will be made immediately and you can wait for it. If it is too busy, you will have to pick it up another day or you can have it sent to you. Therefore, as a precaution, always bring a return envelope and sufficients stamps with you.

Payment

In case you want to apply by post, you can send a money order in the name of the "Embassy of the Netherlands", regardless of where you will send your application to.

In case you want to apply in person, you need to keep in mind that at the Netherlands embassy and consulates-general in the United States you can only pay by credit card (VISA or Master card). Cash payments are not possible.